Fifteen guys, 18 months, and about $1.5 million. And that’s just for the millwork that went into a private residential project in Vancouver that has earned two top honours at this year’s AWMAC B.C. awards for Lamoureux Architects and Radius Architectural Millwork.
Lamoureux Architects is a full service architecture firm located in West Vancouver, B.C. Led by Brad Lamoureux, the firm has won numerous awards for excellence in residential design and has been recognized by such publications as Western Living, the Globe and Mail and Canadian Architecture & Design magazine.
Radius Architectural Millwork Ltd. is a company founded by Rick Wilson that specializes in custom architectural millwork, cabinetry and furniture for both the local British Columbia market and abroad.
Radius began work on the project early in 2009 and completed it in 2010, but there is much more to the story because Wilson’s path into the business was not exactly clear-cut.
Wilson has always shown a ‘knack’ for work and a feel for how things should be done, but the plan, his plan, called for a university education. But then we all know about best-laid plans...
For Rick Wilson the plans fell apart when he didn’t get paid for a summer job as a painter and found himself out of money and with no way to continue in school.
The next step, twig furniture. Seriously.
“I know it sounds weird, but I saw this twig furniture and I thought I could do that and so I tried it,” Wilson says of the venture that set him on his path to becoming a millworker.
“I actually had a knack for it and started to sell pieces and that was it.”
But he also realized that, despite his natural ability and good eye, he needed to learn the trade properly. So he signed up with the British Columbia Institute of Technology and then a four-year apprenticeship with a cabinetmaker.
He had found his calling - top of the class, and perhaps more importantly - he was enjoying every minute of it.
Wilson’s first job was his parents’ home. He built the kitchen, office, bar and fireplaces, and he did it all with a table saw and a drill press and some borrowed and rented tools from his former boss.
“I made a deal with my parents, instead of paying me they bought me some tools to get me started,” he says.
After that he rented a small shop – actually it was a one-car garage – and got his business off the ground. It was – and still largely is today – word of mouth.
People liked his work and recommended him and the business grew steadily.
Then came an offer to join a company in Whistler. A developer was looking for someone to finish his new homes, and Wilson took that opportunity to become a partner in the business. After a few years however, he wanted to get back to Vancouver and in 2003 he started his present company, Radius Architectural Millwork.
“It was still word of mouth, people remembered me and knew the kind of work we did and we were busy right away.”
Today, the company employs 20 people full-time from a 5,000 sq. ft. shop and the vast majority of the work they do is traditional millwork and joinery.
“CNCs don’t really come into play at our shop,” Wilson says. “It’s all very traditional, table saws, wide-belt sanders, jointers and shapers and a large re-saw.”
When he was first contacted about the large private residence project, he has no idea how big it would become.
“The project actually doubled in size and scope while we were doing it,” Wilson says.
“It started to grow once they saw the work. Initially there was a lot of painted detail in some of the ceilings, but then they changed it and added more coffered ceilings and cabinetry.
Alder wood makes up the majority of the work but Radius also built some walnut furniture.
“We basically set up a small shop on site,” Wilson says, but added that they tried to make most of the larger and more complicated pieces in their regular shop. Those pieces were then transported to the site and installed and finished there.
“This was a great project with lots of challenges, but I really appreciated it. It’s a tough economy so it’s nice to be busy.”
Tough economy or not, Radius Architectural Millwork has been growing at 100 per year, every year, and Wilson says that brings his own challenges. It’s good to grow, but he says it is also challenging to make sure you keep up the kind of quality work the company is known for. As the saying goes, you are only as good as your last job and Wilson knows that. He will not cut corners or lower his workmanship to grow the company.
“We had so many laminated curves to deal with in this job that it took us a long time – a lot longer than I had estimated - to figure it all out and make sure we get it right. But we just kept working at it until we had it figured out, “ he says.
“Take spring back, we had to do lot of experimenting to figure it all out, but now we have it down to a science and that will help us with future projects.”
Good training
Wilson credits his great staff for making the company a success. Many were trained in Europe and “they have a different level of training.
“There are many different ways of doing something with wood and because we have a lot of knowledge- able people in the shop we always come up with the right solution.”
Architects and designers can dream up fantastic projects, but somebody has to actually build them and that’s where Wilson’s company comes in.
“We have all these different solutions we can bring to the table and that enables us to bid on complicated projects.”
Radius Architectural Millwork specializes in high-end residential work. They offer complete millwork /cabinet packages for luxurious estate homes as well as custom furniture and wine cellars to suit any decor.
“But our furniture is really high- end custom. We are always looking for a challenge, for something really special,” says Wilson. “We have great woodworkers here and we don’t want to be box makers, we like a challenge and we want to push the envelope of what can be done.”
Being recognized by his peers with the AWMAC award is a great honour and Wilson is grateful for the recognition.
Asked whether he is seeing a certain trend in the industry, Wilson says that while sleek, European-inspired designs are still gaining popularity, he is also seeing a trend back to more traditional millwork in high-end residential construction.
“You have Ikea copying all the modern styles so it’s everywhere now,” he says.
“But when clients want something special and when they spend big money, they either get very traditional or they want to play around with very sleek and modern, difficult-to-work-with materials like a 90 per cent sheen and cut polish everything.
We are also seeing more polyurethane, acrylics and back-painted cabinet doors.”
Radius can provide a wide variety of custom furniture-grade finishes, from antique country cottage to high- gloss contemporary.
But at heart, Radius Architectural Millwork is really a cabinetry shop and Wilson said that is what he wants to continue to focus on.
“It’s how I started and what I love most and we really don’t want to get away from that.”
Photos: Ihor Pona
